Jesse's love of computing began at a very early age. Once during his time in day care we were advised that Jesse's computer privileges were being withheld for a week due to his having "hacked" a teacher's computer. According to Jesse, they used 'teacher' as a password and he thought that was "totally inappropriate."

As he grew so did his desire to learn all things computer-related. It was apparent that technology would be a life long passion and a driving force in most everything he did.

While attending Cardinal Valley Elementary, Jesse was often called upon to help teachers and staff with printer problems, software upgrades and computer instruction. He did so willingly and patiently and enjoyed helping others in what came so easily to him. During this time Jesse met the tech coordinator from Dunbar High who asked that Jesse simply skip middle school and jump to Dunbar where his tech skills were needed. As a student at Leestown Math Science and Technology Magnet Middle Jesse's involvement in the Student Technology Leadership Program became yet another venue for him to help others. He started to learn coding and scripting and became involved in the open source movement.

Over many holidays and breaks Jesse spent time working at schools performing whatever tech service was needed. From 2003 through 2006 he was a summer intern at Dunbar and became an important member of the "nerd herd." His fellow classmates from the MSTC program and the overall student population as well as the Dunbar staff counted on Jesse's tech talents and called upon him regularly both inside the classroom and out.

More than once his talents got him in trouble - he "crashed" his first computer at the age of six; in elementary school he managed to connect to a server at another school; in high school he was known to magically retrieve a friends homework assignment from their home computer while at school.

But his desire was to learn everything he could - and he did. He filled many hours with late night postings on a variety of forums - he became involved in the virtual community of Second Life. He seemed to know every new, better, faster, program or application available and he never hesitated to share them with others. He was a beta tester for GMail, he was among the earliest users of Facebook and Twitter, and he never stopped promoting and working for and with the open source community. His legacy continues all over his precious "internetz."

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